I'm bored...let's talk books!

bethsmiles · July 2014

Last night I was entering book give-aways on Goodreads and realized that I mainly pick books based on their covers. Seriously, some of the ones I entered for I didn't even read the synopsis I just thought - Oh, I really like this cover! I want to read it! So it got me wondering - how do you pick new books to read?

Also, for further discussion - is anyone reading any really good books right now? Have any books or authors to recommend? I just finished the Maze Runner series and I loved it. Now I'm reading The Rise by Sarah Lewis which is really interesting but also pretty complex, heavy reading. It's about the creative process and how it can be fueled by failure and what it really means to strive for mastery of an art/practice. I keep having to look up the meaning of words the author is using though.

joy14bw · July 2014

I liked the Maze Runner too. I'm currently reading the Clockwork Prince (just finished Clockwork Angel). Its a little crazy but definitely keeps you guessing.

If you like girly books I enjoyed The Selection series.

bethsmiles · July 2014

I've read the first two books of The Selection. It's not my favorite series but it's fun, easy reading. I just haven't gotten around to finishing it (I think the last book is out, right?).

Swazzle · July 2014

I plan on reading the Maze Runner soonish!

I just finished 11/22/63 by Stephen King and absolutely LOVED it. It was long but I literally couldn't put it down (it's all I did all weekend except for a few hours on Saturday night). Highly recommend.

I'm on the hunt for a new book now and nothing is really jumping out at me although I have a ton of books on my to-read list. I'm trying to find something on Oyster so I can read for free while I still have my trial subscription.

AND I'm walking to my library in a half hour to finally get a library card!

bethsmiles · July 2014

I really want to start reading Steven King so I just might have to pick that book up sometime soon! He has so many books it's hard to know where to start with him.

How do you like Oyster? I'm considering trying it out. I have so much more time for reading now that I'm done with school but I'm also somewhat tight on money right now so I can't just go out and buy a ton of new books! Plus I have like 10 or so waiting to be read on my Kindle right now but none of them are really screaming read me!

I should get a library card but I don't like having to give books back. I want to have them forever!

[Deleted User] · July 2014

I guess I tend to look for prize or award labels on my books. Or I'll pre select a few online that I get recommended to me based on books I enjoyed previously. . . A flashy cover is definitely going to catch my attention the quickest though. . . Flashy cover AND an award winner? Yes please. . .

If you haven't read The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, it's pretty great. I don't know your taste, but it was a refreshing recommendation from a friend at a time when I really couldn't decide what to read. It has its sad bits, but it's so well written!

bethsmiles · July 2014

@EisleyJoGo - What is The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao about? I have pretty broad tastes in books. I can't stick with one genre for too long without getting a little bored so I like to move between them all...except Sci-Fi which is so wierd because I love to watch Sci-Fi but I just can't get into Sci-Fi books.

Swazzle · July 2014

@bethsmiles - I don't think I'm going to keep the subscription once the trial is over. I feel like there are so many other ways for me to get free/cheap books that it's not actually worth it for me. H and I are trying to cut back on some of our frivolous spending so that's one of the things that would end up getting cut from my budget anyway. You should check out BookBub if you haven't already.

bethsmiles · July 2014

@Swazzle - I had not heard of them but I just googled it and it's awesome!

ETA: I just downloaded a bunch of free books to my Kindle thanks to that site! Not that I'll necessarily get to them all right away but it's nice to have a book number of books to chose from when I need something new to read!

Swazzle · July 2014

@bethsmiles - Bookbub randomly popped up on my FB a few weeks ago so I signed up for their newsletter and downloaded some pretty decent FREE books! It's really great!

Blue & White · July 2014

I love bookbub. And being friends with readers. Right after @swazzle posted her oyster review on Facebook, another friend posted that it was on super sale in the kindle store and I got it for 2.99. Excellent

[Deleted User] · July 2014

@bethsmiles - Let's see. . . Oscar is this chubby nerd who is Dominican, so he already has a hard time in a super-machismo kind of society. His family is kind of mean to him because he's not enough of a man, but then the book goes on to tell the back story of each of the characters, living in the Dominican Republic, and kind of gives you background into where their behavior stems from. His sister is his best friend, and she's just trying to leave all the family drama behind, but she's also kind of his support system. He ends up visiting the DR at some point, and I feel like I learned a lot about the history of that country, which I never knew had so much drama involved! . . Basically it's not too focused on any one character at any time, so you get lots of stories. But it all ties back to him, and the struggles of being a fat nerd.

joy14bw · July 2014

bethsmiles said:

I've read the first two books of The Selection. It's not my favorite series but it's fun, easy reading. I just haven't gotten around to finishing it (I think the last book is out, right?).

I agree, its a very easy ready. And yes the last book is out.

bethsmiles · July 2014

Blue & White said:

I love bookbub. And being friends with readers. Right after @swazzle posted her oyster review on Facebook, another friend posted that it was on super sale in the kindle store and I got it for 2.99. Excellent

I wish more of my friends were readers. I had one friend who reads as much as I do but we've drifted apart in the last year or so. She used to give great book recommendations though!

eilis1228 · July 2014

Currently in between books, but I plan to start the last book in the Dark Souls trilogy soon. They're pretty terrible as far as quality, deep, intelligent story telling goes, but they're definitely page turners. I like reading fluff books like that every now and then, especially because I remember in college all of my professors would emphasize that you aren't supposed to read for plot... so now that I'm out of college, my big F you to those profs is to read for plot. :-P

Books I typically recommend:

-Ella Enchanted (fun for any age!)

-Water for Elephants (I feel like most people have read this by now)

-The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time (interesting to see the world from the perspective of an autistic teenage boy)

-The Thorn Birds

-The Aviator's Wife (because Charles Lindbergh was a dick!)

-Anything John Green has written

-If you're a fan of the Veronica Mars series, the mystery novel was really good.

-The Sookie Stackhouse books are good for fluff reading

-Bossypants by Tina Fey. You will laugh your ass off.

-The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls (powerful memoir)

-The Help (another one I think most have read)

-Snow Flower and the Secret Fan

-Memoirs of a Geisha

-The Time Traveler's Wife (I couldn't put this one down)

-Life of Pi

-Sophie Kinsella writes pretty good fluff books too. I really enjoyed Confessions of a Shopaholic, and all of her stuff gets really good reviews.

-Game of Thrones series. Holy moly so good, but SO LONG. And complex. Not light reading at all.

-Classic books I love - anything by Jane Austen, Great Expectations, Gone with the Wind, Frankenstein, To Kill a Mockingbird, Jane Eyre, Wuthering Heights...

What sort of things do you like to read?

bethsmiles · July 2014

@eilis1228 - Ella Enchanted is one of my favorite books of all time! I was just thinking I need to re-read it!

luckya23 · July 2014

@eilis1228‌ A new shopaholic book is coming out this year!

Dignity100 · July 2014

My favorite books are Clive Barker's 'Thief of Always' & 'The Art of Racing in the Rain' by Garth Stein

Other favorite books: 'Graveyard Book' & 'Coraline' both by Neil Gaiman; 'Rescuing Sprite' by Mark R Levin

I've been wanting to read the graphic novel series for 'Walking Dead' but just haven't found the time to get them.

lennonkdc · July 2014

I pretty much love everything by Neil Gaiman, The Ocean at the End of the Lane was wonderful! Last summer I read Tigers in Red Weather by Lisa Klaussmann and it was a great beach read. I also really liked The Paris Wife and I am currently reading Z: A novel of Zelda Fitzgerald. I've kinda been on a historical fiction kick recently I guess

Peaseblossom55 · July 2014

I found out over the weekend my library can get me books through my kindle so excited! So I have a few books I am waiting for including the first book in The Mazer Runner series. I said to myself I can't start reading any new books until I finish my thank you cards, I should be able to finish them tomorrow.

So I'll have to scroll through the e library site and see what books are available right away this weekend.

[Deleted User] · July 2014

@eilis1228 - Isn't The Glass Castle just amazing? When her dad gives her a planet I honest to God bawled. Haven't seen my copy of that book in months now because I keep lending it out to people, telling them they HAVE to read it. It's what got me on my memoir kick!

eilis1228 · July 2014

@EisleyJoGo It was good! My aunt lent me her copy and told me I absolutely had to read it. I put off reading it for a while because it didn't sound like THAT great of book, but as soon as I started reading it, I couldn't put it down. Her parents were definitely kooky, but they were so creative and full of love for their family. Such a powerful story! A few times I had to remind myself that it wasn't fictional!

bethsmiles · July 2014

lennonkdc said:

I pretty much love everything by Neil Gaiman, The Ocean at the End of the Lane was wonderful! Last summer I read Tigers in Red Weather by Lisa Klaussmann and it was a great beach read. I also really liked The Paris Wife and I am currently reading Z: A novel of Zelda Fitzgerald. I've kinda been on a historical fiction kick recently I guess

That book is one of my weight loss rewards! But I can't buy it until I've lost 20 lbs.

eilis1228 · July 2014

I haven't read anything by Neil Gaiman, but I really want to. Stardust is on my long list of books to read. I think I have it on my Kindle actually. Maybe that will be my next book after the Deborah Harkness one.

Pepperally · July 2014

Just have to say every time I read the title of this thread I keep reading as "Let's talk about boobs".

I usually read a lot of memoirs, many with psychological issues, but have started to get more into fiction lately.

I just finished a fiction book called "The Secret History" by Donna Tarte that I loved about a small group of students at a small college in New England and murder and how psychologically it messes them up trying to keep their secret a secret.

Other books I've loved:

The Fountainhead by Ayn Rand
Running With Scissors by Augusten Burroughs
She's Come Undone by Wally Lamb
The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold
Driving with Dead People by Monica Holloway
I also loved the Glass Castle!

[Deleted User] · July 2014

I decided to take a break halfway through Angela's Ashes (but will return) because I was just getting too brought down. And then for some reason I buy the Michelle Knight memoir at Target, and it is definitely just as depressing. I mean, I knew she would get kidnapped and terrible stuff would happen, but I didn't expect to read about her being raped her entire childhood by a family member, and her starving, and then being homeless and becoming a drug runner as a teenager, etc. . . I'm gonna need a cheer up book after these two. Jeezy Chreezy.

Pepperally · July 2014

@EisleyJoGo - I bought the one on Jaycee Dugard and couldn't finish it.

bethsmiles · July 2014

@Pepperally - I loved The Lovely Bones! Have you read the author's autobiography, Lucky? It's excellent.

Pepperally · July 2014

@bethsmiles - Yes, I've read that one, too, it was good as well! I read another one called "The Almost Moon" - it wasn't quite as good as the other two.

bethsmiles · July 2014

@Pepperally - I didn't know she had another one. I'll have to add it to my list, even if it's not quite as good. Did you see the movie version of The Lovely Bones? It looked like they were going to ruin it in the previews so I never did.

Pepperally · July 2014

@bethsmiles - Yes, I was disappointed in the movie...I'd say don't waste your time! The book is just so much better.

I'm bored...let's talk books!

Re: I'm bored...let's talk books!

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